The present invention relates generally to environmental control devices, and more particularly includes roof mounted light control devices, such as skylights.
For many years, skylights were conventionally manufactured from glass or plastic and provided with a metal retaining frame or skirt; and in order to allow for expansion and contraction under temperature changes were usually provided with a seal or gasket of rubber or other resilient material which was interposed between the skylight material and the retaining or mounting frame or skirt. These structures were inherently unsatisfactory, prone to leak, and difficult to maintain over extended periods of time.
In due course, many of the disadvantages and problems of the prior skylight structures were overcome by applicant's unique structurally designed arrangement wherein the skylight domes were constructed of an acrylic material and the retaining frame or skirt of fiberglass, whereby the material of the dome and material of the skirt would have substantially the same rates of expansion and contraction under temperature changes. The skylight dome was then bonded or fused by means of a suitable flowable bonding medium to the mounting skirt so as to provide, in effect upon setting, a one-piece structure and thereby eliminate the necessity of having to rely on the use of undependable gaskets, sealants or flow-through designs of the previously known structures.
Skylights embodying the previously noted bonded or fused concept were found to have numerous desirable advantages over the previously known structures. For example, the bonding medium has a fire-retardant characteristic, and serves to encapsulate the volatile exposed edges of the plastic material of the dome, and thus prevent ignition of these edges by exposure to flames in the case of a fire.
The bonded concept embodiment also eliminates the disadvantages of the formerly known designs having flow-through and weep holes which either became clogged with dirt or were not of sufficient size to carry off the water during extremely heavy rains. The use of a bonded fiberglass skirt instead of the formerly used steel or aluminum skirt provides a desirable energy-saving insulation against the conduction of heat or cold.
The present invention is concerned with refinements and improvements in the above-described bonded or fused concept of skylight construction, and includes:
1. A unique sealing strip arranged between the inner edge margin of the skirt flange and the overlapping flange of the plastic dome to seal against the entrance of moisture which could freeze in cold weather and damage the connecting bond or skirt structure. PA1 2. A sealing strip positioned between the peripheral flanges of double-dome structures to prevent migration of the flowable bonding medium inwardly into the space between the domes, during the bonding operation. PA1 3. An improved continuous sealing arrangement between the skylight dome periphery and the associated roof mounting curb structure.